School Run
by G66XD66
Summary: For Garoro, being a single dad has many downsides: A lower paying job, having to care for two growing boys by himself, and not really having any time for a social life. One day, during the school run, he meets a woman who begins to make his life feel... normal again. (Bad description, Onigocho/Giroro's father X Dororo's mother, possible chapter fic)


Hearing the sound of movement coming from upstairs, Garoro began preparing breakfast for his youngest son. His eldest, Garuru, had left a while ago for his current part time job.

Almost as if encouraged by the sound of the toaster pinging with completion, his little one, Giroro, came tumbling down the stairs, his bag packed untidily with the supplies he would be needing for school today. Garoro shook his head.

"Give it here, Giroro" He asked, taking the bag off of his son and sorting out the contents while Giroro practically _inhaled _his toast. Putting together a lunch for him and adding it to the bag, Garoro returned it to him.

"What's with the big rush? You have plenty of time to get to school" He asked, sitting across from the red tadpole.

"Ah go-uh ge' 'ere uree ooay' Giroro said, through a mouthful of compacted crumbs.

"Don't talk with your mouthful, kid" Garoro said in an exasperated way, though he was smirking slightly. Giroro swallowed thickly, nearly choking himself.

"I said that I need to get there early today. A new kid is joining our class, and my teacher decided I should show him around" Giroro said with a sulk.

"Don't pull such a face, Giroro. They obviously picked you for the job because you're the most mature, you should be proud" Garoro said, patting his son on the head.

"I guess…"

Garoro glanced at the clock on the wall.

"I'll take you in today, if you need to be in earlier" He suggested.

"Yes, please"

* * *

Giroro was nine years old, which meant he was only in his fourth year of primary school. The idea of showing a stranger around a building that seemed so large to him was an intimidating prospect for someone so young, and that was the real reason that Garoro had taken him in today. Plus, he was curious of the new arrival, and the new parent he would be seeing in the playground after school.

Normally, Garoro was a busy man. He was in a very high position in the military and would normally be called out whenever they needed him, but being a single dad didn't allow for that kind of work, so he had to settle for a much lower paid job from home. It was tedious, and it left him often with nothing to do, but he would do it until Giroro was old enough to take care of himself. It did help that Garuru was trying to get as much part time work as possible to help keep them afloat while Garoro was sorting out his sudden lack of work. All of the extra free time had made Garoro an almost nosy person, curious as to what was happing around him while he had nothing better to do.

Almost as soon as he entered the school grounds, Garoro's eagle eyes caught sight of the new student and his mother. Why? He had never met anyone with powder blue eyes before, and here was both a mother and a son who shared the unusual, but beautiful trait.

Judging from the fidgeting red tadpole beside him, Giroro could also tell that they were new.

"Why don't you go say hi?" Garoro suggested. "Meeting him before you go into class will make you more comfortable with showing him around, right?"

Giroro looked up at his father as if he had suggested something unimaginable. Maybe to Giroro it was. Garoro recognised the look, and decided to take the initiative, although he felt a little uncomfortable about it himself. Since his divorce, he hadn't really spoken to anyone besides his family and the parents of Giroro's friend Keroro. He hoped he wouldn't be too awkward.

As he approached the mother, she noticed him and appeared to shy away a little. He was quite an intimidating Keronian, after all.

"Hey there. Is this his first day?" Garoro asked, referring to her son. The woman nodded slightly and he noticed that her son was now hiding behind her leg, which was exactly what Giroro was doing. With a bit of a prompt from his father, the red tadpole came forward shyly and bowed. The mother noticed this, and smiled sweetly at him. Giroro looked up at his father briefly before speaking.

"I-I'm Giroro… I'm gonna be showing… your son around today…" He said bashfully, feeling bad that he couldn't use the kids name since he didn't know it yet. The mother smiled brightly and prompted her own son to come from behind her.

"Go ahead and introduce yourself, darling" she said, softly. The boy nodded and shuffled forward slightly.

"I-I-I'm Zeroro… it's n-nice to meet you" he said quietly, looking up when the red tadpole held a hand out to him.

"You too" he said. Zeroro looked at the hand for a moment before reaching out and shaking it, returning the shy smile which had appeared on Giroro's face.

Suddenly, the bell went, a sign that class was about to begin. Garoro had no idea that he had been stood with his dithering son at the school gates for so long.

"I'll see you later, Giroro" Garoro said, patting his son on the head, almost as if to wake him up and alert him to the fairly loud clanging of the bell.

"Okay, seeya dad! This way, Zeroro" Giroro replied, taking the blue tadpoles hand and leading him away, the masked child managing a quick 'bye, mama!' as he was lead along. Garoro sighed, thankful that it had gone well. Glancing to the side, he noticed Zeroro's mother watching on worriedly.

"He'll be alright" he told her, prompting her to gaze shyly in his direction. "Giroro will take care of him. He's a good kid" She nodded absently, glancing back at the school for a moment. She was dreadfully quiet, and seemed perpetually uncomfortable and tense.

"Sorry… I forgot to introduce myself" he said, hoping to make her feel more at ease. "The name's Garoro" he continued, wondering whether or not to offer his hand for a shake.

"I… My name is Zarara" the ocean blue Keronian returned quietly. Garoro smiled at her, trying as best as he could to make himself look at least a _little_ bit less terrifying.

"I haven't seen you around before. Have you just moved here?" he asked.

"Yes… I moved here about a month ago..." she replied "I didn't like living in the big city…"

"I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of cities myself… I may not look like it, but I prefer the quiet countryside. I get enough of a racket at home with my two kids!" He said, chuckling quietly, feeling the need to lower his voice around this quiet woman. She smiled timidly at him.

"You have other children?" she asked.

"I have one older son, Garuru. He recently turned eighteen" He said with a grin, always happy to talk about either of his children. Zarara thought for a brief moment.

"Do they get on well?" she asked.

"Definitely. Garuru has always been rather protective of Giroro. They have a very close bond" He said "why do you ask?"

"Oh… well I have a two year old at home and… Well, I was worried my boys wouldn't get on, being seven years apart…" she explained.

"They should be fine. If your youngest turns out to be anything like Zeroro, I'm sure you'll have an easy time keeping track of them. Zeroro looks like a good kid to me" He reassured her, causing her to blush. She loved it when people said such nice things about her son. She glanced at the clock on the wall of the school before bowing to Garoro.

"I'm sorry, but I need to leave, I have some pressing business matters to attend to" She said apologetically. Garoro nodded at her and waved her off, getting ready to head back to his own house.

"Alright. Maybe I'll see you some other time, when we're dropping our kids off at school again, maybe" He smiled, Zarara returning the expression.

"Maybe I will" She agreed, before heading off in the opposite direction to where Garoro was headed.

He mentally congratulated himself for not scaring her off. Quite recently he would often find himself in a foul mood, and it would show tenfold in his face, so he was pretty used to people cowering away from him. He'd done good today.

Walking away, his thoughts keep drifting back to his morning encounter… and those beautiful blue eyes…

**A/N**

**Finally! Finally I have started a fic about my third favourite OTP X3 It's short and quite terrible, and might not be continued but I'm so glad I finally got the inspiration. (I was in the shower the other day, and the idea came to me like that, so I actually kind of role played it to myself to develop the idea more and to memorise, seeing as I obviously didn't have paper handy XD)**

**TMI, sorry about that… XD**

**AAANYWHOSITZ, this may or may not contain very slight GiroDoro, depending on how good I am at restraining myself (joke, I'm not that obsessed… really… *hides username*)**

**Ah yes, encase you didn't work it out, my names for the parents of Keroro, Giroro and Dororo are as follows:**

**Yokaka – Keroro's dad (just as Keroro laughs with a 'kero' or 'gero' his dad laughs with a 'yoka')**

**Kerara – Keroro's mum (me being unimaginative)**

**Garoro – Garuru and Giroro's dad (a combination of the names of his sons)**

**Zarara – Dororo's mum (a combination of unoriginality and the fact I think 'zara' fits her to a t XD)**


End file.
